Why does Armesto consider the Axial Age such an important period of human history? How does he structure his study of the period differently than other scholars, and what purpose does he hope to achieve in doing this?
What similarities and connections do the religious traditions the developed during the Axial Age have with one another?
What continuities and disjunctures did these Axial Age religions have with earlier religious traditions?
How does Armesto choose to organize his discussion and examination of the beliefs of the Axial Age? What effect does this organization have on the chapter's argument?
How did different Axial Age religions treat and employ the concept of monotheism? What factors drove the Jewish conception of monotheism to become the dominant one?
How did Biblical conceptions of good and evil, and humankind's place between those two poles, shape political institutions, policies, and philosophies? (e.g. consider Plato, Han Fei, Confucius, etc.)
How did modern intellectual fields (math, science, medicine, reason) stem from the religious developments of the Axial Age?
What does the map on p. 179 reflect about Axial Age world-views and scientific knowledge? --> e.g. try to read this map as a primary source.
What factors contributed to the efflorescence of philosophical schools and theories during the Axial Age?
How did scholars connect with political institutions during the Axial Age and what purposes did these connections serve? What connection exists between the scale of a political entity and the extent of intellectual production during a period of political fragmentation versus unification?
Chapter 7 (pp. 190-229): ID Terms and Important Concepts
Darius I
Indian Ocean monsoonal wind currents
emporium trading
Zhang Qian - Primary Source - Zhang Qian's Western Expedition
caste system -- connection to Hinduism? (or what Armesto calls "Brahmanism")
role of Buddhism?
Chinese Empires (P/S/E profile)
Qin Dynasty
Shi Huangdi
Legalism
Liu Bang
Warring States period
Confucianism/place of Confucianism during Qin, Warring States, and Han Dynasties?
Han Wudi
role of Empress in Han Dynasty
Steppelands/Xiongnu Empire
Wei Qing
Ban Zhao
brief overview of contemporaneous developments in Japan and Korea, Eastern Europe, and Mesoamerica
Scythians
Monte Albán
Teotihuacán
Blogging Prompts and Critical Questions
In what ways did the political and economic dynamics of the Axial Age reflect contemporary patterns of globalization?
According to Armesto, what role did commerce connections play in the development of empires? How does his perspective on this process of empire building compare with that of the Conrad-Demarest model?
How did its geographic location and resources help to encourage the Persian Empire to develop as the first major empire of the Axial Age? --> e.g. Consider a Conrad-Demarest analysis.
How would the Conrad-Demarest model analyze and interpret Alexander the Great's empire?
Potential research activity -- What other historical or contemporary figures have developed a legendary status comparable to Alexander the Great's? Consider those individuals whose lives have been embellished extraordinarily once they died. Why do these particular people appeal so much and develop such large posthumous identities?
How would the Conrad-Demarest model analyze and interpret the Roman Empire?
How did Roman government structure and society change as the empire steadily expanded in from ~100 BCE - 400 CE?
How would the Conrad-Demarest model analyze and interpret the Indian Empires of Candragupta and Asoka?
How did Asoka's changed attitudes toward conquest of his empire reflect his own personal religious transformation?
How would the Conrad-Demarest model analyze and interpret the Chinese Empire (Qin and Han Dynasties considered together)?
In general, how did Axial Age empires interact with and relate to the major ideologies (philosophies, religions, etc.) that developed in the earlier part of this era? Why did this dynamic between the political entity and these various ideologies develop?
Part Three - Chapters 6-7
Chapter 6 (pp. 158-189):
ID Terms and Important Concepts
- Axial Age --> reason for selection of this term? significance of this term?
- Zoroaster/Zoroastrianism
- Ahura Mazda
- Ahriman
- Dualism/Manichean
- Brahmanism (modern term: Hinduism)
- Jainism/Vardhamana Jnatrputra
- Buddhism
- Gautama Siddhartha
- Nirvana
- Daoism
- Laozi
- Scientific beliefs (see p. 178-179)
- Jewish people
- Levant
- Challenges of using Biblical and archaeological sources?
- Kingdoms of Judah and Israel
- Babylonian Captivity/Exile
- Old/Hebrew Testament
- Covenant
- Christianity
- Jesus
- Challenges of reconstructing Jesus' life? --> see "From Jesus to Christ" - Jesus' Many Faces PBS Website
- Christ/Messiah/"the annointed" --> context within Jewish belief system?
- Jesus' key teachings?
- Jesus' political effects in the Roman Empire (see p. 174)
- Greek philosophy and belief systems
- Aristotle
- Plato -- Plato's Allegory of the Cave from The Republic
- concept of Guardians/Philosopher-Kings (see p. 172)
Greek Artwork PPT:Blogging Prompts and Critical Questions
Chapter 7 (pp. 190-229):
ID Terms and Important Concepts
Blogging Prompts and Critical Questions
Google Earth Files
Related links and resources
Potential assignment breakdown
Chapter 6:
- Four days - 158-168, 168-174, 175-182, 182-188
- Three days - 158-168, 168-177, 177-188
Chapter 7: